Eve

8

Eve and I arrived at the treehouse with our arms full of equipment needed for the repair. She had gotten a small toolbox from a friend containing the necessary tools for keeping the wood together. The wood is what we had gotten from an old lumber yard. We had picked out a few planks that would hold up well enough to stick into the places where the walls and floor of the treehouse had become molded and broken down. I also brought will be a few supplies to clean up as well since the house was covered in fallen leaves and cobwebs.

Eve said it wouldn't be hard. I had never really built anything as big as a treehouse before, but it was simply screwing and breaking in a few wood planks. Eve said she'd do most of the labor if I cleaned up and helped hand her things.

It was a bit odd if I was being honest. And honestly a bit... embarrassing. Eve and I were so different when it came to our experience. She grew up in a small town, a below wealthy family, and was used to more hard work than I ever managed. I wanted to impress her with what I could do, but the difficulty there was that I could hardly do most of the things she had learnt as a child. And that opened my eyes into realizing how privileged I really was.

"Hand me that nail over there, will ya'?" Eve was holding a large plank up to an empty spot on the wall. Her back was covered in dust from the dirt shaken off the ceiling, sticking to the slight sweat on her neck and upper arms. Handed her the nail, it was hard not to stare as her shoulder blades flexed with the strength she had holding up the plank. It made me feel almost dirty gazing at her, trying not to stare for too long at her beautiful figure.

"I'll help you hold it," I said, snapping out of what I had been thinking before. It wasn't a time to be falling in love. It was a time to be working hard.

"Thank you, Lena," Eve looked to me with her big brown eyes, her baby hair stuck to her forehead that had escaped the clip that held back her bangs. Her smile warmed up every bit of sadness I had ever felt in my entire life. And for a second, I forgot what my purpose was in life other than for Eve.

Never mind. Maybe it is a time to fall in love.